VARIABILITY OF SELECTED MEDICINAL PLANTS IN PROTECTED LANDSCAPE AREAS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

The genetic diversity of some medicinal plants native to the Czech Republic, namely Agrimonia eupatoria (Rosaceae), Betonica officinalis (Lamiaceae), Hypericum perforatum (Hypericaceae), Plantago media (Plantaginaceae), Salvia pratensis and S. verticillata (Lamiaceae), was determined. Plants from 26 localities in 5 protected landscape areas around the Czech Republic were transferred to the field nursery in Olomouc and morphological characteristics such as high of the plants, size of leaves and length of inflorescences were evaluated. We found that all studied species displayed a large level of diversification in all evaluated characteristics and statistically significant differences were proven between populations from the natural sites chosen. Our studies contribute to the evaluation of the genetic diversity of these species in the Czech Republic.